


One Year Later

by missmollyetc



Category: Hockey RPF, Sports RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Hockey Players-Men, Hockey Players-Russia, National Hockey League, POV Outsider, Pittsburgh Penguins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-20
Updated: 2013-09-20
Packaged: 2017-12-27 02:52:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/973444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missmollyetc/pseuds/missmollyetc
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i></i>
  <br/>
  <b>After the Popularity of HBO’s 24/7 Road to the Winter Classic...Where Does Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin Stand Now?</b>
  <br/>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Year Later

**One Year Later…**  
After the Popularity of HBO’s 24/7 Road to the Winter Classic  
Where Does Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin Stand Now?  
[Harriet Wimsey](http://anonym.to/?https://archiveofourown.org/users/missmollyetc) 6 hours ago  
Pittsburgh, PA

_Let’s play a game. It’s Pittsburgh, 2012, and the lockout never happened. You and your friends opened your doors come September to the Penguin of Random Choice presenting you with a painstakingly creative booklet of season tickets. Maybe you posed with Minnesota’s answer to Liam Payne: Paul Martin, or shook the hand of recent new addition Beau ‘Sunshine’ Bennett, but all of you—all of us—looked forward to a lengthy, normal season. Are you picturing it?_

_Because it would’ve been beautiful, but sadly for us all, the lockout did happen. For many of us left behind in that dim, hockey-less world that meant staying up all night to watch non-translated footage of our NHL favorites in venues we’d never set foot in. For others, it meant retrospectives. In light of the promise of a full season of hockey, however, the fine folks at **The Pennsylvania Pamphleteer** have decided each week to bring our faithful readers what they might have missed._

 

***

 

You may not know it from [that viral video](http://anonym.to/?http://www.youtube.com) that’s been circling for a year or so, but the Pittsburgh Penguins are a tightly-knit bunch. Once considered the toughest seed in the Eastern conference, the Pens have come a long way since the halcyon days when stars like Jagr, Lemieux, Samuelsson (and Lemieux again) graced [the Igloo’s](http://anonym.to/?http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civic_Arena_%28Pittsburgh%29) hallowed halls, but their names still hold sway over Pens’ history. Ask any true Pens’ fan, and they’ll talk about the plays, the lines, the joys, and the heartbreak of loving the Steel City’s scrappiest sports team. Scratch the surface of any old-time season ticket holder during the season, and you might get a wistful sigh of ‘might have been’ over good ol’ Michel Briere, whose jersey number was finally officially retired in a ceremony long on pomp (but short on spectators). 

In Pittsburgh, memories are long and expectations are high. Never was that made more clear than during the now famous (or infamous, depending on which team’s fans you ask) six-part HBO documentary featuring the current Pens roster, led by their Captain, the always enigmatic Evgeni Malkin, and their historic rivals the Washington Capitals, captained by media darling and bête noire, Alex Ovechkin. The Battle of Russia, as it was dubbed by the hockey blogosphere, was a startlingly intimate look into what has become an increasingly controversial rivalry.

Malkin, known as ‘Geno,’ in the locker room, had been promoted as an early coup by then-general manager Ray Shero. Scouting reports and overly-excitable fans touted him as a rising star whose talents would bring the ailing Penguins back to Stanley Cup form, and “put butts in seats” as one blunt commentator had it. But Malkin’s hasty flight from the KHL, and subsequent legal battle, drained already strained reserves of good will (not to mention Lemieux’s coffers). Fans who had lasted through trades, retirements, scandals, and bankruptcies found it hard not to see the delayed Malkin draft of 2006 as putting the lid on the coffin of a franchise that seemed to enjoy life on the brink of extinction. Not even the bright spot of Lemieux’s return to the ice could brighten the gloom of a team owner who clearly felt there was no other way to stave off the wake than by lacing up once more. 

Into this space stepped Malkin, fresh-faced and big-nosed, an initially cheery presence whose beaming grin was captured in a thousand photos (taken from off-ice). Soon, however, the crumbling financial situation and intense pressure to live up to his enormous paycheck (by Pens’ standards, of course, then-GM Ray Shero’s motto of ‘hook’em live, serve ‘em cold’ is a heavy legacy) soon curdled that boyish grin. Reports of tensions between the European and Canadian players (with those poor homegrown rookies caught in the middle) soon began to leak out.

A narrow loss to Detroit in the 2008 finals, with Malkin granted the A at a disputedly young age, further soured relations. What began as a charmingly mishandled language barrier became an arrogant refusal to communicate with the fans, as Malkin allowed more gregarious teammates (Guerin, for example, and his famous ‘leave the kid out of it’ remarks in Game 4) and a practiced owner/captain speak for him. Now, one dicey Cup victory and a few years as captain under his belt, his lack of media friendliness has almost become a by-word in Pittsburgh media, with some even questioning whether he is able to lead as Captain at all.

The decision to broach that topic in the documentary became instant media fodder and YouTube gold. For every team dinner scene, another commenter pointed out how Malkin sat at the far end of the table. For every flash of sly, almost aggressive wit, an equally strong push back to the now-familiar ‘Comrade Keptin’ image so beloved in the press. “Geno takes a lot of crap, you know?” James Neal offered, during one of the documentary’s many personal interviews. Neal is the latest transfer to Malkin’s first line, dubbed the ‘Revolving Door’ in the press. “He’s got that…you know, he has that language barrier, and it’s…gets blown up like he’s pissing you guys off on purpose. He’s just careful with what he says.”

Teammate and longtime friend, Chris Kunitz also defended his captain, while others were noticeably silent. “He’s got boundaries,” Kunitz claimed, watching Geno practice one-on-one with goaltender Tomas Vokoun. It was one of the series’ most eerily beautiful and just plain eerie moments, the image of the lone captain, lanky and fast (whose jerseys feature the ‘K’ of the Cyrillic language to Don Cherry’s continued dismay) facing off against Vokoun’s immovable bulk. Their interplay, silent but for the slice of blades on the ice, surrounded by watchful teammates is what many point to as the defining scene of the documentary, more so than the Capitals’ Mike Green and his game-winning goal. 

And if there is no image more iconic than Malkin squaring off alone against his teammate, than certainly the documentary itself provided ample fodder for further media contemplation. Ovie’s exuberant embrace of Washington D.C. and life as the face of a franchise versus Geno’s quiet instruction to Matt Cooke’s child during the Christmas skating party and his refusal to grant more than two interviews during the entire run up to the Winter Classic. Washington’s brightly colored community service juxtaposed against the rundown hallways and ragtag youth camps that the Igloo has become famous for hosting. Two men, friends and captains, who could not be further apart both professionally and personally. 

Those boundaries, as Kunitz calls them, were forced to bend for the documentary, which is what brings this retrospective into focus as the season ends, and the final year of Malkin’s contract looms on the horizon. His interviews were sparse, his words even more grudging, and yet it is the image of Malkin, barefoot on a hotel bed, and carefully explaining his fight with Keith Ballard under the protective watch of roomie Sergei Gonchar, which first comes to mind. “I get up,” Malkin said, grey-faced with exhaustion (rumors of him fighting with Pens medical staff are legendary, as the Russian Bear refuses sleeping pills). “and see him skate off. I think…that not…” His shrug and bashful lowering of thick eyelashes over soft brown eyes went a long way towards melting the hearts of bitter Penguins fans, eager to return to the days of back-to-back Stanley Cup wins.

But is this moment of humanity in an otherwise almost pathologically reserved player enough to erase the lingering doubts over Malkin’s fitness to wear the ‘C?’ No amount of tired eyes and well-lit soulful glances to the sky before the game could completely erase the bitter taste of denied dreams. Sales of number 71’s jerseys—never a big seller—have fallen since the electrifying videos of Malkin playing for his old team in Magnitogorsk again raised the question of if—or when—Malkin might return to the land of his birth. Always superstitious (ordering his skates be sharpened left foot first, and eating the same meals before every game being just a few) this year Malkin has begun taping two sticks prior to each game, leaving one untouched in his stall, and wearing the number ‘87’ next to his traditional Russian orthodox pendant. 

“No one knows why,” a source close to the team informs us. “It just showed up one day around his neck. Geno won’t talk about it, and no one wants to piss him off.” 

Of particular interest, of course, is [that viral video](http://anonym.to/?http://www.youtube.com) showing Malkin, in a rare fit of off-ice anger, attacking right-winger Craig Adams for using the phrase ‘I wish,’ following a 6-3 loss to cross-state rivals the Philadelphia Flyers. Most can’t help but wonder, if these brief snippets of personality are all that Evgeni Malkin will allow his fans, what impression he is attempting to give.

As in every sport, the blame falls on whoever made the most recent Worst Mistake Ever, whether it be Pascal Dupuis’ fourth line antics, or GM Brian Burke’s decision to trade Marc-Andre Fleury a month before the deadline, the question of whether or not the Penguins will ever reemerge as a force to be reckoned with in the NHL continues to be asked. Since winning in 2009 in overtime against the defending Detroit champions, Pittsburgh’s hunger for glory has only strengthened. With every second round disqualification in the post-season, the media and the fans remind themselves that repeated trips to the playoffs mean nothing, if nothing comes from them.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my wondrous betas, celli, duckie_girl, Teri, playground_tactics, and everyone who encouraged me with nice words instead of thrown objects.
> 
> ...I promise it got better?
> 
>  
> 
> Also posted at [dreamwidth](http://missmollyetc.dreamwidth.org/422983.html) and [livejournal](http://missmollyetc.livejournal.com/452785.html)


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